Ventilation and lighting



y 1965 M. H. KRUGER 3,181,450

VENTILATION AND LIGHTING Filed March 8, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 4, 1965 M. H. KRUGER VENTILATION AND LIGHTING Filed March 8, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 y 1965 M. H. KRUGER 3,181,450

VENTILATION AND LIGHTING Filed March 8, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 May 4, 1965 M. H. KRUGER VENTILATION AND LIGHTING 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 8, 1962 United States Patent 3,181,450 VENTILATION AND LIGHTING Michael Henry Kruger, Chestnut Hill, Mass., assignor-to Smithcraft Corporation, Chelsea, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Mar. 8, 1962, Ser. No. 178,315 5 Claims. (Cl. 9840) This invention relates to improved distribution of air, to improved means for changing air distribution patterns produced by lighting and ventilating systems, and to improved combination lighting and ventilating units.

A fixed air distribution plan for a building space cannot provide for variable demands caused by changes in the number of personnel working in the space, and in the positions of equipment and furnishings. It is normally necessary to install the ventilation equipment before the space is occupied and to position the air discharge units in the most likely places they will be needed, and hope for the best. After the building space is occupied, it is often found that some areas receive too much air, that others receive too little, and that drafts occur. This is particularly true with combination elongated air and light units of the type commonly installed in a single recess in the ceiling because the position of units is in part dictated by what is best for efdcient lighting. Elongated lights of such units are usually arranged in spaced-apart parallel lines'for eflicient illumination, and the ventilation planner is restricted to choosing positions in these lines for the installation of combination units. Poor air distribution also occurs with lighting and ventilation systems where the lighting fixtures are arranged in parallel lines, and the ventilation fixtures are mounted parallel with'the lines of lights, but spaced substantially from them.

The art has employed dampers of one form or another to regulate the gross flow of air from outlets but these do not provide sufficiently good control to insure proper ventilation without drafts.

In the case of combined lighting and ventilation units, the means for operating the dampers has required the removal ofpart of the unit or adjacent ceiling, making the job of adjustment so unhandy that even gross drafts and stagnant areas are tolerated rather than modified. The art has also provided for repositioning such' combination units, but this only enables gross change and does not provide for the sensitive adjustments needed.

When prior art combination units have two elongated outlets, one on each side of a trofler, there has been no easy way of causing 'one of them to delivery more air than the other. These prior. art combination units have required a substantial above cavity space to provide room for connecting the supply ducts, and these combination units have been unduly noisy. v A principal objective of the invention is, therefore, to provide a simple and economical means for adjusting the air flow rate produced by a ventilation outlet. In particular, I have realized that the flow through an elongated aperture can be varied along its length by a practical and simple means, to provide for a wide variety of air flow patterns.

Another objective is to provide a means for adjustment of air flow whichis so easily operated and accessible as to be capable of use on a continuing basis, to adjust the ventilation to the desires of occupants of the building space.

Another objective is to provide a means for controlling air flow which is silent and causes little friction loss.

Another objective is to provide an improved ventilation and lighting system, with parallel elongated bulbs and vent outlets.

Another objective is to provide a combination ventilating and lighting unit having means for adjusting the flow from an air chamber at one side of a troffer relative to that of another at the other side, where they have a common supply.

Another objective is to provide a combination unit which has air outlets on both sides of a troifer, and has means for connecting an air supply which does not require a large cavity space above the unit.

Yet another objective of the invention is to provide such a combination unit which is economical to manufacture and install.

Other objectives and features will in part be obvious and in part appear herein.

Broadly, the invention comprises an elongated air outlet connected to a corresponding air passage connected to a duct, an elongated damper member mounted in the passage, the damper member being flexible along its length to allow warping of it, and a plurality of spacedapart adjustment means each disposed to engage the damper member and to flex the corresponding portion thereof, to vary the size of the corresponding portion of the air passage. Preferably, the adjustment means comprises threaded'members or the like, extending away from the outlet aperture and accessible through it by a cause flexing of one part relative to another for varying the shape of the control outlet along its length. The

total cross-section of the elongated passage at which the damper member is effective is very substantial, so that the velocity of the air passing through this restriction is substantially lower than the velocity in the supply conduit, hence there is little chance for vibration. Also, when the damper member is mounted immediately adjacent the outlet aperture there is no passage downstream for amplifying and propagating noise. For these reasons the unit can control the air silently.

Where air distribution to both sides of a combination ventilation and lighting unit are desired, two connected chambers are employed, one on each side of the light tube and the air chambers and their outlets are preferably shaped to direct air in opposite transverse directions. With the combination of the flexible damper arrangements with such a unit it is possible to feed one chamber laterally with a supply of air, and to close down on its outlet passage so that sufficient air moves to the other chamber. Particularly when the air supply is aligned with the passage connecting the remote chamber, a very balanced flow can be obtained if desired. This does away with the symmetrical vertical supply and the need for cavity space, heretofore thought important.

In a particularly desirable form the two chambers of such a unit are structurally connected by a passage mememployed 'to also bound one side of the air chamber.

This results in cooling of the corresponding portions of the reflector, and results in discoloring the light bulbs.

In the preferred embodiment applicant defines the troffer and the chamber with separate spaced-apart metal walls, providing an insulation space which avoids the discoloring.

The invention will be described in connection with the drawings of a preferred embodiment wherein:

FIG; 1 is a perspective view looking down upon a preferred embodiment of the combination unit;

FIG. 2 is a perspective of the preferred form of the damper member of the invention, employed in the em.- bodiment of FIG. 1; V

FIG. 3 is a transverse cross-section of the unit of FIG. 1 whenrecessed in a ceiling;

FIG. 4 is a partially broken away longitudinal crosssection of the embodiment of FIG. 3 taken on line 44 thereof;

FIG. 5 is apartially diagrammatic perspective view of a portion of the embodiment of FIG. 1 illustrating the means of air supply; and

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view of an air distribution plan obtainable with the invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the combination unit comprises a fluorescent troffer including an uppermost transverse wall 31, spaced-apart reflective side walls 12, top wall 14, and opposed lamp holders 16 mounted to the top wall, adapted to position and energize lamps 18. Along each side of the trofler, but spaced from the side walls is an air chamber envelope defined by inner and outer walls 20 and 22 respectively and top wall 24. A space is defined between trofler wall 12 and air chamber wall 20 to define an air zone for insulating the troffer from the air chamber, thus to avoid temperature variations of the troffer reflective wall which would tend to discolor the lamps. The lower portion 23 of wall 22 of each of the air chambers is bent to engage an inverted T 25 for support as shown in FIG. 3, the lower portions of walls 22 are bent inwardly into the form of brackets 62 which mount the lower parts of walls 20 to the walls 12 of the troiTer and brackets 60 mount the upper parts of the walls 20 to the transverse wall 31 of the trofi'e-r. A further bracket 64 mounted to the lower end of each side wall 12 is provided to support a conventional light shield below the bulbs and to mount adjustment brackets 44. The two air chambers are joined together through a cross-duct 26 extending between the center of the two chambers. Preferably, this duct is defined by two telescoping members, 28 and 30 which enable the adjustment of the air chambers toward and away from each other to accommodate various sizes of the trofler. Each of the trofler walls extends upwardly beyond the lamp holders to transverse wall 31, parallel to wall 14, defining therebetween an .air chamber 32 which insulates the troffer from the cross duct.

The walls 20 and 22 of each air chamber come together at their lower portion of define a passage leading to the elongated outlet 34. In this embodiment wall 20 is substantially parallel to troifer wall 12, while wall 22 is substantially vertical. Near the outlet 34, in the passage, is mounted a. flexible elongated damping member 36 capable of warping along its length and means tor pivotaily supporting it, here comprising a piano hinge 38 extending along one of the longitudinal edges of said damping mern ber, and a stationary hinge sup-port 40 extending along the hinge, fixed to the wall 20; The damper member extends substantially parallel with the outlet aperture, and is mounted to extend substantially parallel, against wall 20 as shown in FIG. 3 and to pivot across the passage to close it, to the position shown by the dotted line on the right'hand side of FIG. 3. Adjustment screws 42 extend upwardly through the outlet 34, into engagement with the damper member 36. For this purpose brackets 44 and 46 are mounted rigidly with respect to the-body of the unit, and threaded to receive the adjustment screws 42. The part of the damper member which directly contacts each adjustment screw is bent to form a camming surface 48. A plurality of spaced-apart leaf springs 50 are secured to wall 20 of the air chamber and engage the damper member 36 urging it to the open position in which the main portion of the damper member 36 extends downwardly from hinge 38, and lies parallel with the wall 20. .As indicated in FIG. 3, the damper member is in that position, while the adjustment screw still engages the camming surface 48. Here the passage defined between walls 20 and 22 leading to the outlet aperture is substantially free from obstruction. By means of a screwdriver inserted through the outlet aperture 34, turning the screw 42 will carry the camm-ing surface upwardly, and pivot the clamping member to the position shown in the dotted line in FIG. 3 where the passage is substantially closed. Due to the flexibilitiy of the damper member with the adjustment screws the member can be warped, one end in the closed and the other in the open position as shown in FIG. 4.

On the outside wall 22 on one of the'air chambers, in the center thereof, an air supply opening rim 512 is mounted, communicating with the inside of the chamber. As can 'be seen in FIG. 5, this is disposed opposite from the opening into the connecting passage 26. The rim extends substantially horizontally. An air supply conduit, preferably a flexible hose 54 is connected to this.

In installation, the unit is raised into a space between inverted T bars, or into a space otherwise defined in the ceiling, and it is supported, either by the lower flanges of the air chambers or from above. No substantial cavity space above the unit is required because the air inlet to the device is substantially horizontal. Referring to FIG. 5, the air supply piping 52, 54 preferably has a diameter of about 5 inches which gives it a cross-section area of about 20 square inches. The cross-passage has a depth of 1 inch and a width of 10 inches, giving it a cross-sectional area of about 10 square inches. Because the air flowing through the inlet 52 is directed towards the cross passage, a substantial portion of the air moves directly into the cross-passage, across the width of the unit and strikes the opposing wall 22 of the other air chamber. The air stream portions which do not directly enter this passage impinge upon wall 20 of the direct fed chamber, and are thereby deflected in every direction. Portions of this air also enter the cross-passage 26, further increasing the supply to the remote air chamber. Now, by simply adjusting the damper member 36 on the directly supplied air chamber to a more closed position than that on the remote air chamber, the flow through the two air chambers can be substantially balanced when desired, even though there is no symmetry with respect to the supply connection and the chambers.

The wall 20 upon which the air impinges is substantially parallel with the corresponding reflector wall, flaring away from the position of the bulb. Air striking this wall is deflected to move out of the unit with a horizontal component, transverse to and away from said bulb.

Referring to FIG. 4, simply by adjusting one of the screws 42 upwardly more than the other, the flexible damper member is warped, to change the air flow rate at one end of the air chamber relative to the other. This enables gross changes in the capacity of the air passage so that the air flow can be regulated over a wide range. It will be understood that numerous screw members rather than .two as shown can be employedwhere the lighting fixture is sufliciently long to warrant it.

Also, it willbe understood that where air is needed on only one side of the light fixture, only one air chamber need be provided, and an extension can be mounted on the lower edge of the opposite side of the troiter to engage the inverted T or otherwise join the adjacent portions of the ceiling.

Referring .to FIG. 6, the arrowed vectors represent quantities of ,air flowing from the corresponding portions of units 70, 80, 98 and 100. One side 72 of the distributor 70 is disposed adjacent a wall where downdrafts should be avoided. Accordingly, the damper member is uniformly partially closed, limiting the flow but retaining a generally uniform air passage throughout the length of the unit. The air demands on the other side are not uniform, more air being needed in the center part of the room. Accordingly, the damper member on side 74 is warped by appropriate adjustment of the screws 42 so that at one end a great quantity of air flows out of the unit, while on the other end relatively little.

Unit 80 has one side 84 adjusted to direct most of its air from one end of the aperture similar to side 74 of unit 70. The opposite side 86 is closed down to transmit less air, one end transmitting more than the other. The air flow from the two sides of unit 90 are substantially balanced.

Unit 100 has only one air chamber, and therefore transmits in only one direction, one end transmitting more than the other.

In the preferred embodiment described above, the damper member is preferably an aluminum strip having a width of 1 inch and a thickness of .030 inch. This gives the member resiliency with flexibility, which causes it to tend to return to the unfiexed state, and permanent deformation does not occur. In another embodiment one longitudinal edge of the flexible damper member might be rigidly mounted to the trotier, and the inherent resiliency of the strip used to urge the member to one position, either open or close, and the screws opposing that to change the member to the other position. Another embodiment could employ a limp but flexible damping member with the adjustment means carrying the corresponding portions of the damper member opened or closed as desired.

Numerous other modifications are possible within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A ventilation unit having an extended air outlet, a supply passage for said outlet defined by spaced apart walls and connectable to an air source, an extended, flexible damper member Warpable along its extent, said damper member located between said walls and arranged generally parallel with said outlet in a manner to permit control of the flow of air through said passage and outlet, means mounting said damper member for arcuate movement about an axis lying in the direction of extent of said damper member from a first position to other positions relative to said walls defining said passage to eflect said control of the air flow, position control means ineluding a plurality of adjustment means spaced apart along the extent of said flexible damper member, each adapted to be adjusted independently, said adjustment means cooperatively constructed and arranged with respect to each other and to said means mounting said damper member to move the corresponding portion of said damper member from said first to said other positions and to flexibly warp the corresponding portion of said damper member about said axis relative to the remainder of said damper member to vary the air flow from point to point along the extent of said outlet.

2. The unit of claim 1 wherein said damper member is comprised of resilient material of predetermined thickness suflicient to be at least partially self-supporting, said means mounting said damper member including spring means provided along said damper member biasing each portion of said damper member to one of said rotatable positions about said axis, and each of said adjustment 'means adapted to adjustably exert force on the correspending portion ofsaid damper member in opposition to the biasing force, to rotate said portion toward the other of said positions.

3. A ventilation system comprising a plurality of elongated air outlets, a corresponding plurality of supply pas sages for said outlets defined by spaced apart walls, said passages adapted to receive air from a common source, at least one elongated, flexible damper member warpable along its length, said damper member located between the walls of one of said passages and arranged generally parallel with the corresponding outlet in a manner to permit control of the flow of air through said passage and outlet, means mounting said damper member for .arcuate movement about an axis lying in the direction of the length of said damper member from a first position to other positions relative to said walls defining said passage to effect said control of the air flow, position control means including a plurality of adjustment means spaced apart along the length of said flexible damper member, each adapted to be adjusted independently, said adjustment rnean-s cooperatively con structed and arranged with respect to each other and to said means mounting said damper member to move the corresponding portion of said damper member from said first to said other positions and to flexibly warp the corresponding portion of said damper member relative to the remainder of said damper member to vary the air flow from point to point along the length of said outlet and to balance said flow relative to the flow through the other of said outlets.

4. A ventilation system in combination with an elongated lighting unit, said ventilation system comprising a plurality of elongated air outlets, a corresponding plurality of supply passages for said outlets defined by spaced apart walls, said passages adapted to receive air from a common source, at least one elongated, flexible damper member Warpable along its length, said damper member located between the walls of one of said passages, and arranged generally parallel with the corresponding outlet in a manner to permit control of the flow of air through said passage and outlet, means mounting said damper member for movement from a first position to other positions relative to said walls defining said passage to effect said control of the air flow, position control means including a plurality of adjustment means spaced apart along the length of said flexible damper member, each adapted to be adjusted independently, said adjustment means cooperatively constructed and arranged with respect to each other and to said means mounting said damper member to move the corresponding portion of said damper member from said first to said other positions and to flexibly Warp the corresponding portion of said damper member relative to the remainder of said damper member to vary the air flow from point to point along the length of said outlet and to balance said flow relative to the flow through the other of said outlets, one of said elongated air outlets being disposed on each of the long sides of said lighting unit, the entire combination being adapted to be recessed in a ceiling, a connection for the air source provided in one of the side walls of said passages so that air can be supplied in a substantially horizontal flow to said passage and said passage communicating with the other of said passages so that the air flow path from said air source to one of the outlets is of different configuration than for the other of said outlets, the flexible damper member enabling the balancing of air flow through said outlets, the location of the connection for the air source in the side of said passage enabling the combination unit to have substantially no higher vertical extent than that of said lighting unit alone.

7 r 8 5. The ventilation unit of claim 4 in which the pas- References Cited by the Examiner sage-to which said air source connection is provided is v UNITED STATES PATENTS I defined by opposed side walls, the outer of said walls 2937 5897 5/60 Rachlm V having said air source connection :and the inner of said 2991708 7/61 Falk 1? 98,40 Walls having an opening cmlected by cross-duct the 3:010:378 11/61 G60Cafi S 9s 40 other of said passages, the air source connection being at 3,045,577 7 /62 Lazerson 98 40 least partially aligned with the opening of said cross-duet 3,072,033 1/63 Phillips 98 40 whereby plant of the :air can flow into and through said cross-duct, thence to the corresponding outlet, while part ROBERT O LEARY Primary Exammer' of the air flows directly to the other of said oulets. 10 BENJAMIN BENDE'IfI, Examiner. 

1. A VENTILATION UNIT HAVING AN EXTENDED AIR OUTLET, A SUPPLY PASSAGE FOR SAID OUTLET DEFINED BY SPACED APART WALLS AND CONNECTABLE TO AN AIR SOURCE, AN EXTENDED, FLEXIBLE DAMPER MEMBER WARPABLE ALONG ITS EXTENT, SAID DAMPER MEMBER LOCATED BETWEEN SAID WALLS AND ARRANGED GENERALLY PARALLEL WITH SAID OUTLET IN A MANNER TO PERMIT CONTROL OF FLOW OF AIR THROUGH SAID PASSAGE AND OUTLET, MEANS MOUNTING SAID DAMPER MEMBER FOR ARCUATE MOVEMENT ABOUT AN AXIS LYING IN THE DIRECTION OF EXTENT OF SAID DAMPER MEMBER FOR A FIRST POSITION TO OTHER POSITIONS RELATIVE TO SAID WALLS DEFINING THE PASSAGE TO EFFECT SAID CONTROL OF THE AIR FLOW, POSITION CONTROL MEANS INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF ADJUSTMENT MEANS SPACED APART ALONG THE EXTENT OF SAID FLEXIBLE DAMPER MEMBER, EACH ADAPTED TO BE ADJUSTED INDEPENDENTLY, SAID ADJUSTMENT MEANS COOPERATIVELY CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER AND TO SAID MEANS MOUNTING SAID DAMPER MEMBER TO MOVE THE CORRESPONDING PORTION OF SAID DAMPER MEMBER FROM SAID FIRST TO SAID OTHER POSITIONS AND TO FLEXIBLY WARP THE CORRESPONDING PORTION OF SAID DAMPER MEMBER ABOUT SAID AXIS RELATIVE TO THE REMAINDER OF SAID DAMPER MEMBER TO VARY THE AIR FLOW FROM POINT TO POINT ALONG THE EXTENT OF SAID OUTLET. 